France bans police from using chokehold arrest technique after George Floyd protests sweep the world
FRANCE will ban the controversial use of chokeholds used to detain suspects during arrests, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has announced. A wave of global protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death in custody in the US has prompted new criticism of French police after being likened to the death of Adama Traoré. In 2016, […]
FRANCE will ban the controversial use of chokeholds used to detain suspects during arrests, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has announced.
A wave of global protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death in custody in the US has prompted new criticism of French police after being likened to the death of Adama Traoré.
In 2016, Mr Traoré , a 24-year-old black man, died in police custody in a Paris suburb and his death became one of France’s most high-profile cases of alleged police brutality.
About 20,000 people rallied in Paris last week to demand justice for Traoré and Floyd, defying a coronavirus ban on public gatherings.
George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis.
His final words “I can’t breathe” have been echoed by protesters not only in the US, but in many other countries – including the UK.
ZERO TOLERANCE
Mr Castaner spoke out as the French government comes under increasing pressure to address brutality and racism within the police force.
The country’s police watchdog said on Monday it had received almost 1,500 complaints against officers last year – half of them for alleged violence – France24 reports.
Mr Castaner said the chokehold procedure, which he described as applying pressure on a person’s neck or throat while holding them to the ground, is a “dangerous method” and “will be abandoned”.
He told a press conference: “It will no longer be taught in police and gendarmerie schools. It is a method that has its dangers.”
Mr Castaner added there would be “zero tolerance” for racism in law enforcement and officers strongly suspected of racism would be suspended.
He also said too many police officers “have failed in their republican duty” – with several instances of racist and discriminatory remarks revealed.
He said: “I want zero tolerance for racism in our Republic.
“It is not enough to condemn it. We have to track it down and combat it.”
Mr Castaner told French TV channel BFM TV that 30 investigations had been launched into allegations of police officers using racist slurs in 2019.
He said eight cases had been closed with no action taken while the rest had been passed on to judicial authorities, according to Politico.
The Interior Minister also called on police to enforce the use of body cameras, especially during arrests and stressed the obligation for officers to display their ID numbers.
He announced further measures including obligatory annual training, CNN reports.
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Police unions, however, questioned the changes, with Philippe Capon of the Unsa-Police union saying it gives the impression that “everyone is nice except the police, who are mean”.
Frederic Lagache on the Alliance Union said he feared police would be reduced to “street fighting or the use of tasers”, The Guardian reports.
Earlier on Monday French President Emmanuel Macron urged his government to “accelerate” steps to improve police ethics.
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